


A Sobering Thought

by cocoalubber



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Halloween, Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall - Freeform, Severus - Freeform, Severus Snape - Freeform, Weasley twins, dumbledore - Freeform, snape - Freeform, weasley - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27180982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cocoalubber/pseuds/cocoalubber
Summary: It's Halloween. High-jinx are the order of the day as students run amok until someone casts a spell in the Great Hall. The result is sobering."Oopsee "One-shot Halloween fun*Characters belong to JK Rowling. No infringement intended.
Kudos: 8





	A Sobering Thought

The tricksters surely outnumbered the treats this week. At least that was the general consensus of the faculty and staff. Hogwarts seemed to be the epicenter for silly wand waving and frivolous pranks. It was Halloween after all.

Dumbledore had relaxed the rules this year and allowed the wearing of costumes anytime other than during classes. Masked pirates, zombies and scary Muggle lawyers raced through the halls and leapt out from around every corner. It was terrifying. It was annoying.

Professor Snape found himself handing out an inordinate amount of detentions, even for him. Potions was not a class to be messing about with a jinx here and a hex there, not with potentially volatile mixtures brewing in any number of cauldrons. One such cauldron jinxed to bubble over spilled thick green goo onto the floor and heavy green fumes into the air. The Potions classroom had to be cleared and class rescheduled with the Potions Master threatening to feed every last student to the Black Lake's resident kraken.

Madame Pomfrey had been inundated this week also with the aftermaths of mishaps brought about by overly zealous high-jinx. Minor injuries had become the norm and she was definitely not happy.

Professor McGonagall was having her share of mayhem in Transfiguration classes. Students were accidentally, on purpose, transforming other students into pumpkin heads or sending bats careening around the room.

The Hogwarts elves warded off the kitchens after flobberworm larvae were found in the Marmite.

Professor Flitwick nearly tumbled from his podium when a trio of older students burst into the Charms classroom wearing rubber masks depicting Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore jinxing the entire class to fart uncontrollably.

The Headmaster urged cooler heads to prevail when faced with an angry mob of staff gathered in his office. "Today is Halloween, the week is over, the feast is tonight. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal." He smiled and his eyes twinkled as he tried to stem the raging tide of exasperated faculty before him.

The Great Hall was aglow and brimming with shades of the Harvest: reds, oranges and yellows. The tables were filled with the bounty of the season and the place was stuffed to capacity with staff, students and invited guests.

Headmaster Dumbledore presided over the festivities at the high table as his beleaguered staff sat solemnly and long-suffering. Even Hagrid looked haggard.

"Thank Merlin, this week is finally over," Minerva whispered out of the side of her mouth to a nodding Severus.

"It was all I could do to keep from hexing the little blighters myself. And I would have happily marched my weary carcass off to Azkaban relishing the deed," groaned the Potions Master.

At that moment Severus slouched in his chair, no longer the rigid, upright, intimidating persona he always projected at the staff table. His features morphed from stern glare to mildly puzzled to deer-in-the-wandlight and his head felt lighter, worries numbing inside his brain.

"Severus, are you alright?" Minerva asked raising the back of her hand to the side of her chin as if shielding a secret.

The Potions Master plopped his elbows on the table, turned his head to face his colleague and smiled crookedly. Resting his cheek on his clasped hands , he blinked and seemed to stifle a giggle. Minerva's brow furrowed as she observed Severus with growing concern.

"Yer lookin' a wee bit peezy wally, Severus?" Her Scottish brogue was more evident in times of stress.

Severus snorted in a vain attempt to suffocate a laugh behind pursed lips.

"I th-think sun fucker's usin' a-an in-tox-i-cation jinx on m-me."

Minerva's eyes widened as Severus gave her a little drunken wink.

Professor McGonagall immediately stood to whisper into Dumbledore's ear. The Headmaster glanced over at Severus only to find him winking and making oddly flirtatious ticking noises from the side of his upturned mouth at a very flustered Aurora Sinistra.

Dumbledore placed his wand to his throat and bellowed out into the Hall,

"CEASE THE JINXING NOW!"

Severus' befuddled visage bobbled back towards a smirking Minerva.

"Oopsee," Severus uttered sheepishly noting the Headmaster's tone.

Minerva sucked in her lips tightly trying desperately to hold back the laughter.

Thank Merlin the spell vanished as Severus sat bolt upright, squared his shoulders and flicked back some black tresses that had fallen forward in his stupor. To say he was livid would be the understatement of the year, the decade even. His hands gripped the wooden table so tightly the wood seemed to creak in pain. His glare over the tables was as if the fires of Hell burned from his eyes. Students, as well as some staff, quietly wondered whether or not the choleric Potions Master would explode at any moment filling the Great Hall with his considerable wrath and power.

Severus bowed his head, closed his eyes, breathed deeply and stilled his mind.

Slowly, deliberately the wizard opened his eyes to a narrow menacing glower beneath his brow and a dangerous sneer curled at his lips. A low rumbling growl rippled out over the gathering as the room held its collective breath and all scooted slightly backward in their seats.

Then he saw them. _'The Weasley twins!'_ Severus' eyes zeroed in on the two giggling boys.

Then they saw him. _'Oh Shit!'_

His laser beam stare held them as he projected his face into their minds. _'The night ain't over yet, boys. Sweet dreams.'_

They could almost hear the maniacal laughter of their victim thundering through their brains coming back to haunt them.

~~~

Fred and George Weasley sat up all night, waiting for the worst, waiting for whatever evil revenge the great bat of the dungeon had in store for them.

"Why on earth did we do that? The man was a fucking Death Eater!" came the cry in unison.

"George, he will skin us alive, I just know it."

"Fred, he will skin us alive then boil us in oil."

"George, he will hand us over to Voldemort to be sacrificed."

"Fred, he will hand us over to Voldemort to be fed to that giant snake."

"George, Greyback!"

"Fred, and his pack of hungry werewolves!"

"Oh, dear Merlin, what have we done!"

They whinged, trembled, fretted and whimpered throughout the night.

Severus sat in his dungeon chambers in front of the crackling fire, book in one hand and a glass of Ogden's in the other. Taking a moment between pages, he telepathically conjured terrifying images to fill the minds of the two redheaded conniving brothers. He knew they were cowering in their room in Gryffindor tower. He could feel it. With a glint in his eye, a smirk on his lips and the soothing taste of aged whiskey on his tongue Severus went back to his reading, Algernon Blackwood's _The Wendigo_.

It was going to be a long night.

**The End**


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